A major concern for immobile patients and persons alike are medical conditions that form clots in the blood, such as, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and peripheral edema. Such patients and persons include those undergoing surgery, anesthesia, extended periods of bed rest, etc. These blood clotting conditions generally occur in the deep veins of the lower extremities and/or pelvis. These veins, such as the iliac, femoral, popiteal and tibial return deoxygenated to the heart. For example, when blood circulation in these veins is retarded due to illness, injury or inactivity, there is a tendency for blood to accumulate or pool. A static pool of blood is ideal for clot formations. A major risk associated with this condition is interference with cardiovascular circulation. Most seriously, a fragment of the blood clot can break loose and migrate. A pulmonary emboli can form blocking a main pulmonary artery, which may be life threatening.
The conditions and resulting risks associated with patient immobility may be controlled or alleviated by applying intermittent pressure to a patient's limb, such as, for example, a leg to assist in blood circulation. Known devices have been employed to assist in blood circulation, such as, one piece pads and compression boots. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,290,662 and 6,494,852.
For example, sequential compression devices have been used, which consist of an air pump connected to a disposable wraparound pad by a series of air tubes. The wraparound pad is placed around the patient's leg. Air is then forced into different parts of the wraparound pad in sequence, creating pressure around the calves and improving venous return.
These known devices may suffer from various drawbacks due to their bulk and cumbersome nature of use. These drawbacks reduce comfort, compliance and may disadvantageously prevent mobility of the patient as recovery progresses after surgery.
Therefore, it would be desirable to overcome the disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art with a prophylaxis sequential compression device that reduces bulk and is not cumbersome during use to improve comfort and compliance to a patient. It would be desirable if the prophylaxis sequential compression device includes a removable portion to achieve the advantages of the present disclosure. A compression sleeve having a removable thigh section is disclosed in co-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/784,607, filed Feb. 24, 2004, and the disclosure of this application is incorporated herein by reference. The thigh section can be removed by tearing the compression sleeve along a perforation provided in the bladder material. However, this application does not address issues associated with tearing to multiple layers of differing composition to disconnect a section of the compression device.